'Jesus!'
'Actually, old man, we ought to be grateful to those bloody things,' Peter Marlowe said, trying to slow his breathing. 'That Jap was still warm. He hadn't been dead more than a couple of minutes. He would've caught us if he hadn't been bitten. And we should thank God for our quarrel. It gave the snakes time. We'll never be closer to pranging! To death! Never!'
'I don't ever want to see a goddam Jap with a goddam bayonet pointing at me in the middle of the goddam night again. C'mon. Better get away from here.'
When they were in position near the wire, they settled down to wait. They couldn't make their dash to the wire yet. Too many people about. Always people walking about, zombies walking the camp, the sleepless and the almost asleep.
It was good to rest, and both felt their knees shaking and were thankful to be alive again.
Jesus, this has been a night, the King thought. If it hadn't been for Pete I'd be a dead duck. I was going to put my foot in the Jap's lap as I smashed down the rifle. My foot was six inches away. Snakes! Hate snakes. Sons of bitches!
And as the King calmed, his esteem for Peter Marlowe increased.
'That's the second time you saved my neck,' he whispered.
'You got to the rifle first. If the Jap hadn't been dead, you'd've killed him. I was slow.'
'Eh, I was just in front.' The King stopped, then grinned. 'Hey Peter. We make a good team. With your looks and my brains, we do all right.'
Peter Marlowe began to laugh. He tried to hold it inside and rolled on the ground. The choked laughter and the tears streaming his face infected the King, and his laughter too began to contort him. At last Peter Marlowe gasped, 'For Christ sake, shut up.'
'You started it.'
'I did not.'
'Sure you did, you said, you said…' But the King couldn't continue. He wiped the tears away. 'You see that Jap? That son of a bitch was just sitting like an ape —'
'Look!'
Their laughter vanished.
On the other side of the wire Grey was walking the camp. They saw him stop outside the American hut. They saw him wait in the shadows, then look out across the wire, almost directly at them.
'You think he knows?' Peter Marlowe whispered. 'Don't know. But sure as hell we can't risk going in for a while. We'll wait.'
They waited. The sky began to lighten. Grey stood in the shadows looking at the American hut, then around the camp. The King knew from where Grey stood he could see his bed. He knew that Grey could see he wasn't in it. But the covers were turned back and he could be with the other sleepless, walking the camp. No law against being out of your bed. But hurry up, get to hell out of there, Grey.
'We'll have to go soon,' the King said. 'Light's against us.'
'How about another spot?'
'He's got the whole fence covered, way up to the corner.'
'You think there's been a leak — someone sneaked?'
'Could be. Maybe just a coincidence.' The King bit his lip angrily.
'How about the latrine area?'
'Too risky.'
They waited. Then they saw Grey look once more over the fence towards them and walk away. They watched him until he rounded the jail wall.
'May be a phony,' the King said. 'Give him a couple of minutes.'
The seconds were like hours as the sky lightened and the shadows began to dissolve. Now there was no one near the fence, no one in sight.
'Now or never, c'mon.'
They ran for the fence; in seconds they were under the wire and in the ditch.
'You go for the hut, Rajah. I'll wait.'
'Okay.'
For all his size the King was light on his feet and he swiftly covered the distance to his hut. Peter Marlowe got out of the ditch. Something told him to sit on the edge looking out of the camp over the wire. Then, from the corner of his eye, he saw Grey turn the corner and stop. He knew he had been seen immediately.
'Marlowe.'
'Oh hello, Grey. Can't you sleep either?' he said, stretching.
'How long have you been here?'
'Few minutes. I got tired of walking so I sat down.'
'Where's your pal?'
